It looks like things are winding down to a close for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the UFC. After his last two losses, it seems that once fruitful relationships have withered on the vine for Rampage and now, with the end drawing near, fight …
It looks like things are winding down to a close for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the UFC.
After his last two losses, it seems that once fruitful relationships have withered on the vine for Rampage and now, with the end drawing near, fight fans are left to wonder what would have happened if “Rampage had fought … ?”
Quinton Jackson has had a fantastic career, not only based on his style of fighting and his abilities, but those he fought in both ring and cage.
He had memorable fights with Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell and others, but when a fighter looks to be moving on, suddenly we begin to feel a pang of regret. After all, isn’t the next great fight always just around the corner?
Maybe so, maybe no. Perspective in the fight game, as in life, is always relative. Nonetheless, here are five fights I would have liked to have seen for Rampage before his final curtain call with the UFC.
As far as we can remember, there have been a number of controversial decisions in the UFC. Referees have stopped bouts prematurely or not soon enough. Fighters have performed unconventionally and changed our expectations of them in and out of the ring….
As far as we can remember, there have been a number of controversial decisions in the UFC. Referees have stopped bouts prematurely or not soon enough. Fighters have performed unconventionally and changed our expectations of them in and out of the ring. But some of the strongest debate about controversial decisions for MMA enthusiasts surrounds those that have been handed down from the judges.
The omniscient group stands ready to offer their proper judgment of the performance should the fighters not accomplish this themselves. Like all decisions from authority, this doesn’t mean we have to agree, especially when the performance is superb or terribly lacking and when a place of prominence is on the line.
Or when we all think they’re wrong.
It’s for this reason that UFC president Dana White is known for his maxim “Don’t leave it in the hands of the judges.” Nevertheless, a number of fights go directly to the judges, but the opinions don’t stop there. Controversial decisions oftentimes throw the entire MMA community into disarray for a while after they were given. If the fight is for a title, these decisions can also weigh heavy on the respective division and land on the shoulders of both fighters until things are settled by whatever means.
Let’s take a look at seven of the most controversial decisions in championship fights handed down by the judges in the history of UFC.
The time of Tito Ortiz is drawing to an end. For a fan of the sport like myself, it is honestly hard to believe. I remember when he started making waves, many years ago. He was young, mean and totally disrespectful to his opponents, treating them all w…
The time of Tito Ortiz is drawing to an end.
For a fan of the sport like myself, it is honestly hard to believe. I remember when he started making waves, many years ago. He was young, mean and totally disrespectful to his opponents, treating them all with equal disdain.
And he attracted a rabid fan base because of this. They loved him and lived vicariously through him.
When he finally claimed what was then the UFC middleweight title, the legions of Tito-maniacs crawled out of the woodwork, crowing loud and proud.
They had their champion, and nothing would ever be the same.
His career since those early days has had ups and downs, as any career in the combative sports will. He has been seen as both a fighter who could not be beaten and as a fighter who will be beaten all the time.
In the early days, when he was winning far more than he was losing, he did not seem to care one bit about his detractors. He wore his inflammatory t-shirts after each victory, accompanied with his grave-digger finale and too damn bad if you didn’t like it.
After all, he was Tito Ortiz, reigning light heavyweight champion, and as he was quick to say: “no one is fading me.”
But then things changed.
He lost his title to Randy Couture, a man he and others figured would fold under the heat. Randy was an “old man” and, as we now know, Tito likes to fight legendary fighters who are long in the tooth. He made a name off Ken Shamrock, goading the Hall of Fame fighter into the cage with him on three separate occasions and they never should have fought at all, truth be told.
Randy Couture was not the same kind of man as Ken Shamrock.
Couture was in good shape and his body had not experienced the wear and tear that Shamrock’s had.
He was also an excellent wrestler who had no fear of being punched or kicked, thanks in no small part to his five-round war with Pedro Rizzo in the heavyweight division.
But you couldn’t tell that to Tito before that night. Ortiz had his fans (of which he is perhaps the biggest one) behind him. To them, the idea that he would lose to an old man was silly.
But then he lost. Scratch that; he didn’t just lose, he got embarrassed.
Couture was the new champion, and the era of “Tito the Unbeatable” was suddenly over.
These things happen in the fight game. Fighters take turns playing the roles of both the hammer and the nail. It’s the life they choose, riding the highs of victory one moment and enduring the lows of defeat the next.
I personally don’t think Tito had any problems with the losses, because when you look back at his career, he’s lost to some of the very best in the division. There is no shame in that, for sure.
The pathos of Ortiz’s story lies in the fact that he doesn’t seem to understand why so many people love to see him lose.
Sometimes a fighter and his persona are two totally different things. A fighter, in order to get noticed, decides to play the role of “black hat,” which attracts viewers who want to see him lose.
Ali did this, but with such a sense of humor and style that we all knew it was an act. Aside from Joe Frazier, his opponents knew it as well.
Ortiz never seemed to get this and, if he did, he didn’t make a clear enough distinction with the fans. I am not calling him slow or stupid, not at all. The fact remains that he still seems sadly shocked when he is the recipient of the boos and harsh talk.
He shouldn’t be surprised at all.
Recently, Ortiz decided to cast aside his old bad boy moniker in exchange for something new.
“The People’s Champion: Tito Ortiz.”
For all of his attempts at personal growth, this move not only smacks of desperation, but arrogance as well. If a fighter has a nickname like that, he better not only be beloved, but also a man who stands for something far greater than mocking defeated opponents.
His next and final opponent, Forrest Griffin, could claim to be “The People’s Champion” and would have a much greater chance of it being true than Ortiz could ever dream of.
Once again, no one should be surprised.
The sadness of it all is found in the fact that Tito honestly seems mystified as to why he has any detractors at all.
Tito chose to ride the black horse early on in his career and it was a dandy animal, a war horse that loved to charge fast and heavy. But he ran that horse into the ground long ago, now he’s walking it to the finish line.
There is no sense in acting like he didn’t enjoy his time trampling his opponents under those hooves, because we all know he loved it and his fans loved it, too.
But fans in this sport are fickle and he has much less of them than he did when he was champion. When he began to lose, people cheered for anyone who seemed anti-Ortiz, paying and praying they would see Tito be humbled yet again.
Perhaps, after his final fight is done, he should simply tip his black hat to the crowd and walk away, knowing he made the kind of money he hoped for when he stepped away the first time after UFC 40.
If not, then he can take comfort in the fact that while, in the end, he may have been disliked more than he was loved, he was indeed a polarizing figure and, for many, being hated is better than being forgotten.
(Equinso Ocha: Always holding the black man down.)
We could be wrong, because he speaks with a comprehensibility that would give a stenographer an aneurysm, but it definitely sounded like boxing great/MMA not-so-great James Toney just called former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson a “slave” in a recent interview with EsNewsReporting.com. Granted, he also claims that the UFC paid, and is still paying him, a grand total of 1.5 million dollars for his UFC 118 “fight” against Randy Couture, a notion that we know is complete and utter bullshit, but listen to what he had to say when asked about Rampage’s recurring plight with the UFC:
That’s what you get for being a slave to the white man. Don’t be scared. Step up and speak for yourself. That’s why I got paid the million-and-a-half dollars and am still getting paid by the UFC. You know what I’m sayin’? The highest paid fighter ever. You feel me, fat boy? Me. And you been there…what, twenty years and you’re getting paid pennies? While I make millions?
Rampage, if you wanna fight me boy? Come on down to the gym and I’ll give you a job first. …you could be the sparring partner. I pay $50 for a sparring partner.
First off, if you supposedly got paid $1.5 large at UFC 118, why is it that you only pay your sparring partners a measly fifty dollars? Who looks like an asshole now? You, Mr. Toney, that’s who.
Check out the video interview, along with our best attempt at transcribing it to English, after the jump.
(Equinso Ocha: Always holding the black man down.)
We could be wrong, because he speaks with a comprehensibility that would give a stenographer an aneurysm, but it definitely sounded like boxing great/MMA not-so-great James Toney just called former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson a “slave” in a recent interview with EsNewsReporting.com. Granted, he also claims that the UFC paid, and is still paying him, a grand total of 1.5 million dollars for his UFC 118 “fight” against Randy Couture, a notion that we know is complete and utter bullshit, but listen to what he had to say when asked about Rampage’s recurring plight with the UFC:
That’s what you get for being a slave to the white man. Don’t be scared. Step up and speak for yourself. That’s why I got paid the million-and-a-half dollars and am still getting paid by the UFC. You know what I’m sayin’? The highest paid fighter ever. You feel me, fat boy? Me. And you been there…what, twenty years and you’re getting paid pennies? While I make millions?
Rampage, if you wanna fight me boy? Come on down to the gym and I’ll give you a job first. …you could be the sparring partner. I pay $50 for a sparring partner.
First off, if you supposedly got paid $1.5 large at UFC 118, why is it that you only pay your sparring partners a measly fifty dollars? Who looks like an asshole now? You, Mr. Toney, that’s who.
Considering Rampage has used almost the exact same language, figuratively speaking, to describe how the UFC has treated him, you can’t imagine he’ll be too offended/pissed off by old Mushmouth’s criticisms, right?
Toney had a lot more to say, go figure, and some of it was almost understandable. We tried our best to transcribe and translate the rest of it, and we’re pretty sure it gave us cancer. So enjoy.
On Rampage’s chances in a sparring session: “Who? Unahgigitkncokedout anddatbelt. Hes goin’ get *suffers small stroke* Comebehimenuniswill….comenuniswill, right? Comenunis…you, YOU, Kele calamari express. You watchen sparrin, UC howa, no how hard I hit. Waswalleybefor.”
[Translation: I predict that if us two gents were to have a rousing back-and-forth duel under Marquess of Queensbury rules, I would emerge victorious, thanks in no small part to my vastly superior striking and brilliant display of handwork. You’ve seen me fight, haven’t you, sir? Cheerio.]
On why his freak show fight with Ken Shamrock never happened: “…the most dangerous girl in the world. They had ‘em atheythey couldn’t afford me ’cause they had money (?) and some bullshit motherfuckin Ivalo Gutier, you know Ivalo?”
[Translation: Ken Shamrock is a ninny little ray of sunshine. The fight promoters could not afford to pay me such a daunting commission because they lacked the proper funding to do so. Also, boxing manager Ivalo Gotzev, whom you are familiar with, correct?]
On what would have happened if they had fought: “yuyuknow he’d get knocked out. You know, he know, you know, why he got scared asitizz. He scared. That mofuka….*indescernable* I don’t play. I mean bidness.”
[You and I both know what would happen, good sir knight. He is rather intimidated by me, that wretch is. I am not here to tussle my tallywacker. I am a professional.]
(Don’t play that shit around Senator Harry Reid. This is the man who *invented* invisible lat syndrome.)
As the editor of an MMA website, I’m constantly bombarded with images of tattooed skinheads engaged in gay foreplay. And yet, there are times when I’m faced with an image that even makes me uncomfortable. Check out 25 of the most chillingly awkward MMA photos in the gallery after the jump, laugh nervously, then avert your eyes in shame…
As the editor of an MMA website, I’m constantly bombarded with images of tattooed skinheads engaged in gay foreplay. And yet, there are times when I’m faced with an image that even makes me uncomfortable. Check out 25 of the most chillingly awkward MMA photos in the gallery after the jump, laugh nervously, then avert your eyes in shame…
There’s a time in every athletes career when father time starts to take it’s toll on them. MMA fighters feel it just like as much if not more than other athletes. They begin to slow down, suffer more and more nagging injuries, and even start …
There’s a time in every athletes career when father time starts to take it’s toll on them.
MMA fighters feel it just like as much if not more than other athletes.
They begin to slow down, suffer more and more nagging injuries, and even start to lose their once great chin.
But there are those special fighters, like Dan Henderson and Randy Couture, who remained at the top, or close to it despite their age.
Here is a look at some current fighters who remained good despite being at an age where they should have been past their prime.
The time of Tito Ortiz is drawing to an end.
